Urban Wildlife

Madison's Henry Vilas Zoo welcomed a new lion to its pride at an event Thursday morning.

Dane County Executive Joe Parisi's office said Pelo (pronounced PEA-low) is a 16-month-old male African lion who joins the zoo from Seattle.

The zoo's other lion, female Shakura, will exhibit with Pelo as a pair after they get to know each other and the weather warms, according to the zoo. Pelo arrived at the zoo months ago but was announced Thursday to the media during an event at the zoo, 702 S. Randall Ave.

“We really look forward to a number of years with Pelo and Shakura, and look forward to the day when they can get together and start producing their own cubs to continue to help our species preservation,” Parisi said.

City officials confirmed Tuesday the emerald ash borer, a bug that destroys ash trees, has been found in Madison.

Dane County will now be under quarantine, meaning residents can't take ash wood products or firewood out of the county.

City of Madison officials said they plan to ramp up the sampling of ash trees and begin removing thousands of trees throughout the city this winter. That includes trees that are in poor condition, those under power lines and those under 10 inches in diameter.

News 3 was with a city crew in Berkley Park Tuesday morning where they found ash borer larvae in trees they were sampling in the park.

In an effort to manage and maintain the undeveloped land areas of the Madison park system, the city’s Parks and Engineering divisions recently initiated a citywide inventory.

Simon Widstrand, a retired conservation supervisor and planner for the City of Madison Parks Division, is working with other volunteers and city staff to inventory Madison's 4,000 acres of natural land to apply standard maintenance practices and prevent these areas from deteriorating or being overrun by invasive species.

"Most people embrace a land ethic that requires us to care for our land," Widstrand said. "To leave something for future generations, and to protect our investment, we should provide good stewardship of our natural lands. The inventory is the first step of developing a plan for the city and volunteers to manage and restore more city natural areas."

Fish from Madison’s lakes contain contaminants that can pose adverse health effects to people who consume them. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has issued recommendations suggesting that people limit their consumption of fish caught in the lakes.

Yet those advisories may not be reaching everyone, especially low-income people and minority groups, who are more likely to eat fish from the city’s lakes. Moreover, programs to spread the word about the hazards have been limited or cut in response to limited resources.

“Given the hard economic times, I suspect more people than ever are fishing for food -- predominantly lower income and minority (people),” said Maria C. Powell, an environmental scientist and president of the advocacy group, Midwest Environmental Justice Organization. A recent rise in consumption may be leading to disparities in contaminant exposure, which can have long-term health consequences.

An invasive beetle, which may be present in Dane County, could destroy almost a quarter of the trees that border city streets, according to city and state experts, but residents can slow down its spread by not transporting firewood.

The Dane County Humane Society will hold its annual garage sale again this year.

The sale will feature everything from home decor and books to clothing and games. All of the contributions support the efforts of DCHS.

The sale will be held at the Four Lakes Wildlife Center off Voges Road in Madison. It will run from Friday to Sunday. Doors open at 8 a.m. and close at 5 p.m. Saturday, but will only be open until noon on Sunday.

Madison buzzed last year when urban beekeeping became legal, but not everyone loves living near a hive. While they are relatively few, the city has received some complaints about beekeepers over the last year.

According to zoning administrator Matt Tucker, there are 39 beekeeping licenses out in Madison, and only about three or four have had complaints lodged against them since the ordinance passed in February 2012. This is comparable to complaints about Madison's urban chicken raisers, Tucker said.

He noted the issues that most commonly come up with beekeepers have to do with the personal responsibility of keepers, like hives resting closer to lot lines than the ordinance allows.

Loni Broesch has filed multiple complaints about her neighbor and said she's miserable living next to a beekeeper.